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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — a practice
  4. spring — of water
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. last — to go on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. tear — to rip
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a ring
  15. march — music
  16. tear — from crying
  17. last — finally
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. drill — army training
  21. wind — moving air
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. band — a music group
  24. hide — to keep secret

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com